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Benfica hosts Ajax in the first leg of the Champions League 1/8 finals. The match will be played on Wednesday, February 23rd at Estádio da Luz (Lisbon)
Benfica made it to the Champions League group stage after going through two qualification stages. The Eagles finished second in Group E, earning eight points in matches against Bayern Munich (0-4 and 2-5), Barcelona (3-0 and 0-0), and Dynamo Kyiv (0-0 and 2-0). Despite the solid transfer spending, Benfica cannot yet boast of success in the local arena. The Eagles were eliminated from the Portuguese Cup and lost to Sporting in the League Cup final (1-2). And they are in third place in the national championship. On February 19, Benfica choked in the away match against Boavista. Despite a 2-goal advantage in the 1st half, the guests from Lisbon showed a terrible game after the break and allowed Boavista to level the score.
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Erik ten Hag's team started their way in the tournament from the group stage. Ajax took 1st place in Group C with the maximum possible 18 points. The Jews earned them in matches against Sporting CP (5-1 and 4-2), Borussia Dortmund (4-0 and 3-1), and Besiktas (2-0 and 2-1). Ajax is in great form. The team gained 16 victories in the last 17 matches in all competitions, losing only to AZ Alkmaar in the Eredivisie (1-2). The winning streak of the Jews lasts ten games in a row, and they scored 39 goals and conceded only one. On February 19, Ajax players coped with Willem II away (0-1). The Red-Whites habitually dominated and delivered 29 shots on the opponents' goal but limited themselves to one accurate shot by Jurrien Timber shortly before the final whistle.
Ajax players will not experience problems at this stage of the tournament if they show all their strengths. The Amsterdam team looked very powerful in the group stage, demonstrating spectacular and attacking football. The Jews scored 20 goals, and only Bayern Munich was more productive (22 goals). Sebastian Haller is the top scorer of the tournament with ten accurate shots. Benfica has notable defensive problems. In the current Champions League, they revealed themselves in two matches against Bayern, which upset the Eagles as many as nine times. And Benfica regularly concedes from not the strongest teams in the Portuguese championship. For this reason, it can be assumed that the visitors will be able to score more than one goal in the upcoming game.
Prediction for the match: Ajax to score over 1.5 goals
